


Come Hell or High Water

by izazaa (crazyground)



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: M/M, Tentaspy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 08:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12577948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazyground/pseuds/izazaa
Summary: When Mundy is attacked by monstrous sea creatures, he thinks that things cannot get any worse. Then tentacles yank him out of the water. Then he finds himself aboard the SS Mann, whose crew are not what they seem. (tentaspy!au)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> warning: nautical inaccuracies! violence in the later chapters, probably.
> 
> happy halloween!
> 
> (i stole this title from my fake slave fic bc it fit so much better here, in case this looks oddly familiar ahahaha)

They came in the night.

One moment, the waters were calm enough that Mundy was about to head below deck for the night, the next – spindly fins broke the surface of the water, twisted and gnarled things that looked like skeletal hands bursting from the dirt. Then followed grotesque heads that appeared a truly horrifying chimera of fish and human, eye whites reflecting the moonlight and staring directly at him.

He was in the middle of the ocean, and his vessel, though large for its kind, was a yacht. They were unlike any sea creatures Mundy had encountered in Australian waters, and rippling the ocean's calm surface for as far as the eye could see. Sniper readied his rifle, and held steady, until a webbed, clawed hand ruptured from the waters and grabbed his railing.

Deftly, Mundy shot the accursed creature between its bulbous eyes. As it pitched backwards into the water, it let out an inhuman screech.

Pandemonium broke loose. Spurred by its cry, its brethren erupted from the water in droves, giving Mundy no time to reload his rifle. He drew his kukri instead, and began hacking through them. Soon, the salty air grew putrid with rot and iron. However, there were too many of them and they pushed him back across his gut slick desk, their claws gouging its wooden slats. Mundy scrambled backwards, cursing, when his hand hit something sharp.

His net launcher! At once, Mundy seized it and aimed in the dead centre of the impending horde, holding his breath as he timed it just so… Fire! It cast wide across the horde, snagging a good dozen of them – a squirming, squelching mass scrambling for purchase as it is dragged back towards the ocean. Just as he was about to heave a relieved sigh, one lashed through the net and grabbed his ankle.

He cursed and struggled and whacked it with the launcher to no avail. Mundy slammed into the railing, and as he catapulted over it, his breath was knocked right out of him. With a loud splash, Mundy plunged into the shockingly cold water. It was black with writhing monsters and blood and he realised furiously, that he was about to die.

Something caught him in the stomach, thick and solid like an anchor's chain, and knocked the breath out of him, the last of his air escaping in spluttering bubbles. He clawed at it, but his fingers slipped off its slimy rubbery surface. Completely at its mercy, Mundy was yanked through the water, disorientated and quickly losing consciously, when suddenly, they broke through the surface of the ocean and Mundy was flung into the air.

With a sickening crunch, Mundy crashed into the deck of his ship He was bleeding and battered, but alive! Wheezing, he squinted into the darkness, and caught one last glance of a different deformity, this one many-limbed and crimson scaled, eyes glowing as it stared down at him. It did save his life, however, so Mundy grinned at it, teeth flashing white against the night, before falling into blessed unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plenty of weird fish in the sea, and Mundy has the misfortune of meeting them all.

Mundy came to, noisily gulping for air. His lungs burned and he was covered in various cuts and scratches that burned with sea water, but he was _alive_. And no longer on his yacht, by the feel of rusted metal under him. With great, pained effort, Mundy struggled to a sitting position, aching limbs akimbo, and looked around wildly. This had his vision spinning, but before he could collapse again, a firm hand caught him by the shoulder, and held him steady.

"Woah there, take it easy," a low, rumbly voice told him. Sniper looked up to find a stout man peering down at him under a yellow hardhat, eyes hidden by round black goggles. Plus… denim overalls that surely chafed when wet, and a large rubber glove over his left hand, flared open where water could rush in at anytime. Far be it for Mundy to judge his savior's fashion choices, but it was odd attire for a seafaring man.

"Listen to the engineer," another voice chimed in. Mundy turned, and another man, in a lab coat so white that it blinded he for a moment. The man was watching him with round glasses that gleamed with a vaguely ominous aura. "You used up quite a lot of bandages; see that they do not go to waste."

Sure enough, when his vision steadied, Mundy saw that his arms and legs were swaddled up, bled through in some spots, but mostly patched up. And looking blearily around, it appeared he was on an old tugboat barge, big enough for only two shipping containers, one of which he was sprawled out on. "Right. Thanks…"

"Dell Conagher, this ship's engineer." He stuck out a meaty hand, then winced when he noticed the grease smeared across it. Before he could pull it back however, Mundy took a firm hold and shook his hand. Dell grinned broadly, then jerked his chin to the tall man standing behind him. "And this here's our medic, Ludwig."

Ludwig grinned and as he held out his hand, his glasses flashed again sinisterly.

"Mundy," he replied, shaking it, and because he wasn't in any state to think up a suitable lie, added, "I'm a killer."

Fortunately, Dell only laughed. "Yea, we noticed. Had to be some sort of hardass to survive whatever left those claw marks on your deck. Mind telling us how you did it?"

When Mundy related to them what had happened, he glossed over the part where he thought he dreamed a tentacled monster saved him from his watery grave. It was already surprising enough that they readily believed his harrowing tale of the legged fish that attacked him.

Dell even whistled low and impressed. "Sounds like you slaughtered a lot of them."

"Not enough, obviously," Mundy retorted bitterly. If he had been transported to the barge of their ship, then there was a good chance, that his yacht had be abandoned. With cargo that they seemed to be delivering, it would be impossible to convince them to detour for his yacht. Mundy was effectively homeless, and had nowhere to go.

"Son." Dell thumped him on his shoulder, knocking him out of his brooding. "We've been following a trail of shipwrecks the past week."

"Yeah? You know what those things were?"

They exchanged looks before Dell announced, "No clue what they are."

"But we've seen what they can do." Ludwig nodded, listing off his fingers, "The sailors before you, they were drowned, torn apart, slashed to shreds, half eaten…"

"You're the first one we found alive, in fact!" Dell shook him a bit. "Even your ship is still in tact!"

"My yacht's in tact?" At last, a ray of hope. Mundy grinned and seized Dell's hand to clamber to his feet. He looked around again and finally spotted his darling dwarfed between the containers, rigged to the barge. Except for the gorges, and that it was crusted with blood and other nasty substances, she looked none worse for wear. Relief flooded him. "Thanks, mate! How can I repay you?"

"Actually…" Dell rubbed his chin thoughtfully, leaving a dark streak of grease. He exchanged looks with Ludwig, who was grinning. "If you managed to survive an attack all on your lonesome, you might be useful. We could use a man like you."

Mundy rounded on him, a familiar thrill stirring inside him. "I ain't in any shape to take any kind of labour."

"Oh, doc can have you whipped into shape in no time." Dell assured him. He smiled then, and his wide, pearly white grin abruptly took on a sinister tone under his impenetrable goggles. "How'd you like a job, slim?"

 

* * *

 

 

A young faced brat bouncing on his heels atop the railing, somehow not yet lost his balance and fallen overboard, was first to greet them.

"Well look what the engie dragged in!" The boy brayed with laughter. "Aren't you a sorry sight?"

It didn't irk Mundy much, because he was well aware of his sorry state; there was a more pressing matter at hand. "You're a _child_." He turned to Dell. "Your ship hires _children_?"

"Hey! I'm no child!" the child yelled back. "I'm a _man_. We can't all look like a piece of stale beef jerky like you!"

"Now now, you two!" Dell interrupted them before a quarrel started. "This Mr Mundy might be out new crewmate. So play nice, Jeremy, while I go get the captain."

"I shall prep the sickbay for our new guest!"

"I ain't sick –" Mundy started to protest, but Ludwig shouldered past him. The impact wasn't especially strong but it did make him lurch violently. His head spun but he caught himself just in time, arms flailing about for balance, and glared at Ludwig who only beamed at his point proven right.

"The sickbay, Herr Mundy!" With a last waggle of his finger, he ambled off.

As they left, Jeremy eyed him with open curiosity. "He offered you a job here?"

Sniper eyed him right back. "I haven't accepted yet."

Despite being a hired gun, Mundy considered himself a professional, with standards. He usually specialized in charging criminals an absorbent amount of money, to take out rival criminals. The money was better spent from his wallet, and the kill went off without any unnecessary casualties, unlike if some crazed gunman had taken the job.

 _This_ job sounded too good to be true. It even seemed like it came from a higher moral ground than his previous assassinations. The cargo ships of the weapons magnate, Saxton Hale, had been disappearing mid route. The first two groups of mercenaries he sent to investigate also disappeared leaving only bloodstained shipwrecks.

Mundy wanted to take the job, especially since it came with the chance at revenge against the slimy ghouls that tried to drown him, and worse still, mutilated his yacht. However, the sea was an unforgiving place and he didn't want to hunt vicious wildlife while sailing with a shoddy crew. He needed more information.

Mundy turned to Jeremy. "How dyou find working here, kid?"

"Not a kid!" Jeremy insisted. "Well you'd be in luck, cuz you're gonna sail with the best sailor on Earth." When Mundy started looking around, he snapped, "Me! I'm talking about me, you dunce. C'mon, let me show you around."

To his relief, Dell kept a decent ship – though shabby and worn in appearance, it had none the missing lengths of railing nor the craters splintering the deck, like some of his other less savoury jobs. The paint job might have been messy and nicked, but the metal beneath was strong and wieldy.

All in all, a well maintained ship. Mundy looked up at the smoke drifting lazily from the engine exhaust vents, and it was clean and white. By the time he had walked the length of the ship, from bow to stern, Mundy was actually impressed.

However, when he leaned over the side of the ship, squinting, he realised the name of the ship messily stencilled onto its hull with red spray paint read – _The Mann._

"So, I'll be sailing with you for months on end," Mundy said slowly, "and we're both going to be riding... the _Mann_."

Jeremy's eyes widened almost comically, and then he burst out into laughter so loud and obnoxious that Mundy cracked a smile. But what sort of testosterone drenched slab of meat captained his ship, _The Mann_?

Captain Jane Doe. He stomped out of the pilot cabin, in a skipper's hat so large that it fell over his eyes, and despite Dell on his heels and explaining the situation, he peered suspiciously at Mundy, a scowl twisting his mouth.

"So you're the Mundy?" demanded Jane.

"I'm the Sniper," corrected Mundy. "The name's Mundy."

"You sound funny! You sure you're American?!"

Mundy raised an eyebrow, but decided it was for the best that he answered, "I come from a country that starts with A."

Jane began to count off his fingers, muttering _Russia, Germany, damn commies_ , before he straightened up abruptly, and drew back his fist.

Mundy reached for his kukri but before he could unsheathe it, Jane snapped into a sharp salute, back ramrod straight. He grinned wide beneath the hat that obscured his eyes. "There is only America! Welcome aboard, hero!"

A professional was polite, Mundy reminded himself, and managed to croak out, "Thanks, but I haven't signed on yet." If this was his captain… Was this job worth its splendidly hefty paycheck if he drowned before he could spend it?

Immediately, Jane's expression fell into a frown. "So you're a civilian?!"

"So I'm a freelance assassin."

"You're free!" Jane lit up. "Good work, new recruit!"

"I'm not a –"

"Mundy here says he's been sailing for years now," Dell interrupted. "It'd be good for this ship to get a more seasoned sailor, considering where we're headed."

"I trust your judgement, Dell."

When Jane dismissed him and turned to leave, Dell patted him on the back. "Jane might be… unconventional, but he runs a good ship. He'll do right by you."

Mundy frowned, opening his mouth dumbly, before shutting it again. It was too much to process for an almost-drowned man. Notcing his strained expression, Dell took pity on him. "You don't have the decision right now. Come, I'll bring you to the sick bay. You must be exhausted."

 

* * *

 

 

Mundy woke to the oddly stained walls of the sickbay, feeling refresh and after checking himself over, relieved that the medic hadn't done anything strange to him while he was unconscious. In fact, it almost felt as though his wounds were completely healed.

Ludwig had told him a bit about the crew as he ?started up a strange contraption he called a Medigun, and it was to his soothing voice and the comforting pulse of that machine that Mundy had slipped into slumber.

From what he learnt, the Mann was manned by a remarkably small crew, and there left only two men Mundy had yet to meet. From what he'd seen of them, he actually felt pretty optimistic. Mundy wasn't a particularly sociable creature by nature, but he wouldn't see any other human in months, and it heartened him to know that while his new teammates were, for lack of a better word, _weird,_ they were at least reliable, had little basis to complain about his own weird habits.

One of which he demonstrated as soon as he skinned out of the sickbay. Trusty rifle slung over his shoulder, he climbed up to the pilot house, saluted Jane through its glass pane. Then, he jammed his boot against that glass pane's sill, reached up with his long, lanky body, and hoisted himself up onto its roof.

Mundy strained against the wind that rushed around his ears, but heard no reprimanding shout behind him.  And after standing there for a few minutes, arm hooked around the radar tower for support, watching as Jeremy scurried across the deck beneath him – no one followed him up either. Satisfied, he sat, cross legged, with his back against the radar tower, and took a deep breath. Here, on the highest reachable point of the ship, with the vast sky and unending sea spread out before him, Mundy felt at peace. And it kept his precious yacht within his sight.

When a seagull came flying close to the ship, he noticed Jeremy on the yard, staring up at it with wide eyes.

"Kid!" he hollered, waving his hat in the wind until Jeremy spotted him and waved back, albeit vulgarly, middle finger stiff in the air, yelling something Mundy couldn't hear but no doubt was in protest of being called a child.

Without another word, Mundy hefted his rifle up and peered through its scope. Legs adjusting at every crest and lull of the ship, breathing in sync with the ocean wind, Mundy fired.

The bird burst into a cloud of feather, and then its body dropped from the sky. With an excited yell, Jeremy bolted after it, crossing the slippery deck with impressive speed. The trajectory of the bird, however, was headed for the waters, just inches beyond the ship.

Mundy sighed, resigned to rations for dinner when Jeremy suddenly flung himself onto the railing. Balanced on one foot, his entered body pitched over the railing. Even as he caught the bird with one hand, Mundy was sure he would fall off. Abruptly, Jeremy contorted mid air, pivoted himself back onto the ship, did a neat somersault off the railing, and landed lightly on his feet, the seagull thrust into the air like a trophy.

Mundy couldn't help but laugh and wave back. Whatever his reservations, the crew was certainly capable.

 

* * *

 

 

In return for the dinner of fresh poultry, Jeremy had strung up a hammock for him in the crew's quarters, but Mundy knew that sleep would escape him, and although he loved his yacht, it was a bit too soon to return to the scene of his near death, so he remained in the nest that he had created atop the pilot cabin long after the rest of the crew had retired. Dell was even kind enough to provide him with a battery powered blanket when he learnt that Mundy had volunteered to keep watch.

Something caught his attention, and he sat straight up. Rubbed his eyes, and stared in the direction of his yacht. Were those – tentacles? Yes, _tentacles,_ thick enough that he could see it from across the barge, sprouting from the black surface of the sea, groping for purchase on his yacht.

Heart skipping, Sniper fetched his rifle and brought the scope to his eye. He was was more than willing to have a sea beastie crawling onto his yacht. Preparations had already been done to protect the sail from any element of nature, and the cabin had been well locked and sealed. He just wanted a closer look.

Squinting through the scope, Mundy watched the moonlight reflecting off the water that sluiced down the creature as it emerged from the waves. There was something odd about its body; it looked more blocky and rigid than any octopus he'd ever seen in the Great Barrier Reef. Perhaps this was a type of ocean squid he'd never seen before? He grinned, excited by the new discovery, until it twisted sharply towards him.

Mundy almost flinched away, but his sniper instincts kept him at the scope. The shape could well have turned away; it was entirely too dark to see. It occurred to him then, that while he wasn't able to see the creature, the lights fringing the pilot cabin illuminated him, and if the creature had anything nearing a human's vision, it would be able to see him.

Feeling slightly ridiculous, Mundy raised a hand, and waved like a child in front of a zoo exhibit.

The creature raised an arm – an arm! A human arm! One bend at the elbow, and another at the wrist – and waved back. Mundy flinched, heart beating wildly, and pulled the trigger. The shot cracked through the night air, but Mundy didn't see if it hit. With only one hand on the trigger, and its barrel only propped on his knee, the rifle jerked in his grip and swung away from the target.

He cursed under his breath, and quickly righted his scope, squinting through it again, but it was too late. Whatever it had been, it'd slipped back into the ocean.

All of a sudden, a loud slam cut through the night. From the cabin door that had just flung open, Jane came stomping out.

"Sniper! You discharged your weapon!" Jane barked, hands on his hips, head craning up. "Explain!"

"Thought I saw something climb onto my yacht." How crazy would it sound, if Mundy claimed to have seen a tentacled merman who waved at him? Or perhaps he had seen wrongly in the dark. Or perhaps Ludwig had slipped him something for his pain, and he was hallucinating. "Might have been a giant squid."

"A what?!"

"Giant squid. We hear reports of those, back home in Aus – America."

"Even American fish are the best of the best!" America seemed a sort of trick word to Jane, because the captain suddenly puffed out his chest, proud of his countrym… monsters. "That all?"

"What else would be out here on the open seas with us?" It was an honest question; Mundy would like to know too.

Unfortunately, Jane just grunted, "At ease!" and left Mundy alone in the night.

 

* * *

 

 

Dell came to relieve him shortly after sunrise, taking the next watch so that he could check the ship over to make sure nothing had gone awry during the night, as he made his rounds. Jeremy came as well, to invite him to breakfast, and by then, Mundy was famished enough that he followed his 'high-ranking senior sailor' below deck without protest.

The gallery, much like the rest of the ship, was grubby and stank of stale seawater, but well-furbished, and judging by the hearty breakfast spread across four large barrels, well-stocked. Ludwig and a gargantuan, heavy muscled man sat at one side of the makeshift table, helping themselves to the dried meats and cheese, and fashioning them into sandviches with dry crackers.

Jane was there as well, and when he spun round on the crate he was perched on to greet them, his fork flew out of his hand. Mundy tilted his head, and the fork whizzed past a hair's breadth away from his ear, and embedded itself into the wall with a loud thock.

"Good morning, new recruit!" Jane boomed, unmindful of the face that he'd nearly maimed. In fact, he seemed more concerned that he now had no way of eating his meat, but cheered up when the doctor offered him an onion instead.

"Morning, Captain." Mundy yanked the fork out of the wood. Perhaps it was only an accident, but a ship was no place to seem like a pushover, especially in front of men he knew nothing about, and he could not afford to set a precedence. With a sharp flick of his wrist, the fork buried itself into Jane's onion, just as the man was about to take a bite from it. "Here, you dropped this."

As Jane grinned and thanked him, the large man let out a bark of laughter.

"You must be Sniper," he rumbled with a distinct Russian accent, "Ludwig told me about you."

"Mundy. Best bloody sniper on the seven seas." He took a seat. "You are…?"

"My name is Mikhail." Mikhail stuck out a massive hand. "I shoot gun."

"That so?"

"It is very big gun," Mikhail added, offering him a sandvich.

Mundy took it with a nod of gratitude. "Good to know."

It was then that Jeremy entered, lighting up as he spotted the food. He flashed a grin to Mundy as he walked over. "Oh hey, you're up! Good, eat more. Gotta get your strength up if you're gonna fight the zombies with us!"

"Zombies don't exist!" Mundy pulled a face. "If it's zombies then that's unnatural, mate. You don't mess around with the supernatural."

"What did you think they were?" asked Ludwig suddenly.

Mundy blinked at him. "Weird fish."

"Hmm, yes," said Ludwig, rubbing his chin. "Weird fish, that's what they are. No magic nonsense whatsoever. Isn't that right, Jeremy?" He elbowed Mikhail, who reached across with one large arm and slapped Jeremy upside the head.

"What?! Oh, yea, yeaaah, I just meant they, ugh. They just look like zombies! All bloated and green and _muuuargh."_ Jeremy held his arms up and lurched in his seat, classic zombie movements. "I should know, I've killed thousands of them!"

As Jeremy reached for a sandvich, Mikhail slapped his hand away and passed him a plain strip of jerky instead. "Baby man needs more meat, build more muscle."

"Are you kidding? Have you seen these guns?!" Jeremy plopped down next to Mundy, close enough that he elbowed him in the ribs as he reached from an onion, which instead of eating whole, he sliced up to eat with the meat.

It was a squeeze at the table, an alien feeling after his months long solo missions, but even though he was sandwiched between two messy eaters and was constantly dodging food and spittle, it wasn't unwelcome.

 

* * *

 

 

"Incoming, port side!" Jeremy hollered, a split second before Mundy yelled, "Incoming, stern!"

The ship exploded into activity. Jeremy sprinted to the barge as he swung around his metal bat, cackling, while the usually quiet Mikhail barged out with a ginormous gatling style machine gun, roaring an incomprehensible battle cry. It was indeed a very big gun. Overhead, Jane vaulted over the railing with his bazooka, then blasted a rocket at the ocean which launched him high into the air where he rained hell from above. The salty air was soon overwhelmed by the stench of gunpowder and charred flesh.

At his perch, Mundy picked them off from above, one by one, but realised it was too slow, so he leapt down to deck level, where he would be able to shoot through several of them at once.

He realised his mistake, however, when he immediately had to dive out of the way of Mikhail's bullets. He had no idea how this crew fought, didn't know how not to get in the way.

Instinctively, he gravitated towards the rear of the ship, where the zombies were being pushed back to. They were all lined up along the sides as they climbed up the container; Mundy smirked as his one bullet skewered four of them at once.

He spotted Dell on the barge, and aimed his rifle in his direction. The creature who tried to sneak up on Dell shrieked and fell away. Without even flinching at the gunshot right behind him, Dell lobbed what looked like a grenade that burst upon hitting the horde and spilled its inky black content upon the water surface. It did little except coat the zombies however, and did not hinder them the slightest.

"Light it up!" Dell shouted, a wicked grin in his voice. Mundy was confused for a moment, before a red figure bounded past him, wielding a massive… flamethrower. Who brought a flamethrower to a fight on the ocean?!

As the long lick of flame kissed the first zombie, there was a blinding flare, and then the ocean was set ablaze. Mundy was so transfixed by the fiery destruction that he did not expect the great swell of hot air to blast him off his feet.

The wind lashed at him as he tumbled across the container. Desperately, he grabbed hold of its latch. There was a screeching sound as it pulled loose. Its lid flew open and a sudden yellow flurry flew out and smacked him in the face, off the barge.

Not again! He hit the water with a loud splash, thankfully on the opposite side of all that fire. Before he could wave to Dell however, something wrapped around his waist and dragged him under the water.

 

* * *

 

 

They break the surface of the water, a short distance from the Mann, and Mundy gulping down air, and the first thing he did was splutter, "We have to stop meeting like this."

The water was still ablaze; he couldn't make out anything of the creature but hard cast shadows across its hulking form and the reflection of fire dancing upon its scales. Then it ducked into the water again, and Mundy was yanked through the waves so quickly he feared something in him might snap.

With another almighty yank, the creature had tossed him onto the ledge of the barge, and then clambered on, cornering him against the container.

At last, Mundy saw clearly the tentacled monster, who smirked at him, sharp pointed teeth splitting its head of crimson scales. Its torso was one of a man slightly more slender than Mundy himself, pale and sinewy, with deep gashes along his ribs that resembled gills and flared sporadically. After the juts of his hips however, the smattering of scales disappeared into red, rubbery skin, that split into tentacles, each as thick as logs and with suction cups that held fast to the barge, the container, Mundy's skin, leaving welts.

"You remember me," the creature purred. "I'm flattered."

"Yer hard to forget!" Adrenaline racing through his veins, Mundy casted about wildly, but his kukri was trapped between his back and the container, and he knew his teammates would not be able to see him from the ship. "Always lurkin' around me. You some sort of spy?"

The creature's face contorted with surprise, before he chuckled, a low sound like water heaving around his hull. "Exactly. You may call me Spy."

"I won't call you a damned thing until you explain what's going on," Mundy growled.

"Ah, of course. You see, I've taken a liking towards you –"

"I shot you!"

Spy nodded agreeably. "It was a very nice shot. Nicked one of my tentacles." He raised one tentacle, and it made a squelching sound as it reached towards Mundy. Sure enough, there was a ridge of scar tissue, lighter and more pinkish than the rest of its dark crimson skin.

Mundy craned his head away from the terrifying tentacle, scowling. "That wasn't a nice shot. I've done better." And now that he knew what he was up against, he knew without a doubt: "Next time, I _will_ do better."

"Is that a threat?" Spy leaned forward, and gave Mundy a smirk, that resembled more a baring of his sharp sharp teeth.

"That depends on you, don't it?" At this point, the way Mundy saw it, if this creature wanted to kill him, then he would definitely be dead. He squirmed a bit against that slippery flesh, and sure enough, it didn't budge an inch.

Spy smiled again. "Smart man! I was actually hoping, mon ami –" he shifted suddenly, holding Mundy between the metal slats of the barge, where one stray move would have him crushed beneath its bulk "– that you would be interested in a little transaction."

Whatever Mundy was expecting, it wasn't this. Mundy regarded him suspiciously.  "What?"

"I wish to know the on-goings of your ship. Report back to me… every other night."

"The Mann?" This gave Mundy further pause. What could the Mann possibly have to offer this sea monster? Mundy's head spun. Too many surprises at once. The attack on his yacht, this monster, the Mann and its incongruous crew – the timing of them all could not be a coincidence. Something nasty was underfoot; he could feel it in his bones even as they creaked under Spy's vice grip. Mundy stared at him, but couldn't glean any information from his facade. Finally, he settled on glaring. "Do I look like a traitor to you?"

"Do I look like I'm giving you a choice?" mocked Spy. He furrowed his eyebrows together for a moment, as though he was deeply considering it, and then he lit up again. "If you do not repay the favour of pulling you out of the ocean – twice! – I'd be happy to push you back in."

"Melodramatic asshole!" Mundy snorted.

The corner of Spy's mouth twitched, but he asked instead, "What loyalty do you have for the Mann? Nothing compels you to keep their secrets. It wasn't _they_ who saved you."

"They're giving me passage."

"I saved your life. Twice."

"To _use_ me!"

Spy scoffed. "A man such as yourself should understand nothing in life is so generous."

Perhaps it was the familiarity of such negotiation, easier to think of this as business than of how such a monstrous chimera came to be. "… Fine. You've got yourself a deal."

"Excellent!" Spy lit up, loosened his tentacles, and just when Mundy thought this trial was coming to an end, added, "Oh, and do keep the crew away from your yacht. I rather like it too."

"Don't you dare touch my baby – " Before he could finish, he was in the air again. In a purposeful show of strength, Spy flung Mundy an unnecessary metre above the container, whereupon he crashed back down with a loud clang.

For a long moment – a splash as Spy returned to the water, Dell's boots thundering towards him, gunfire dying down – Mundy just lay there, glowering at the sky. Just what had he gotten himself into?

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM the first proper chapter up! many thanks to my lovely beta, [varjoaika](http://varjoaika.tumblr.com/)!

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first ongoing fic, so lemme know what you guys think! critique welcome! i'll try to update... once a week? yell reminders and suggestions at me [here](http://izazaa.tumblr.com/)!


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